


Bring Me The Sun

by startrecking



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, I'm just as shocked as you are, M/M, Technically all three apply okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 07:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18889705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrecking/pseuds/startrecking
Summary: Grizz thought he had seen the last of West Ham when he moved half way across the country to attend his dream college and reinvent himself. Little did he know that a little bit of West Ham would soon follow him to his new home, and let alone in the shape of Sam Eliot.





	Bring Me The Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Can't believe it took a pair of dorky nerds to get me back into writing for fandoms again, but here we are, I guess.
> 
> A big shout out to [Will](https://twitter.com/95moons) for betaing for me on such short notice!
> 
> Title is from Sing Of The Moon by The Collection

Grizz was exhausted. The semester had only started two weeks ago, but already he felt like his professors were trying to overwork him. He’d had to stay up till two in the morning, finishing off some bullshit essay his tutor had sent out last minute guidelines for, so his alarm clock’s high pitch blaring had not been a welcome sound just four hours later, but still, he’d had to force himself up and out of bed so he would make it to the café on time for the opening shift.

_ Piping Hot _ was a small coffee shop off the beaten path, but a hotspot for student life during the school year. Grizz had applied for a job there during his first year after seeing an old fashioned vacancy sign hanging in the door, and though the manager creeped him out more often than not, he’d stayed on for the friends he’d made. 

Sarah (aka Sazz), ever so diligent and always arriving early, was already pulling down chairs by the time he walked in not thirty minutes after his alarm had sounded. She was one of his best friends amongst the staff, having immediately bonded over the similarity of their nicknames and shared hobbies. 

Sazz had walked him through how to use the overly complicated espresso machines on his first shift, and had laughed at the way his hair kept falling in his face when he was working. Eventually, she’d taken pity on him and handed over one of the spair hair ties around her wrist and helped him tie his bangs in a miniscule bun so he could see what he was doing, and it was something he’d been copying ever since. 

Smiling at her, he gave a short wave and a nod before quickly ditching his coat for the required apron, and joining her in prepping for the morning rush. 

“Fun night?” she asked with a sly smile when she saw him yawning as he was wiping down surfaces. 

“If you call a three thousand word essay fun, then sure.”   
  
“Ouch,” she’d said with an exaggerated wince and a small laugh, “Well, if you treat yourself to a couple extra shots in your coffee today I won’t tell Pfeiffer, how does that sound?”   
  
“Like an absolute blessing,” Grizz replied with a laugh, before starting to check all the things were ready for the first customers. It was going to be a long day, but having that extra kick of caffeine would make the morning a little more bearable.

———

The lunch rush was steady as always, most of the customers being students that were rushing in between classes for a snack and a coffee to go, but it was easy enough to handle. Ryan, one of the new kids who’d started a week before the start of term, had joined them after his morning class making it easier to get through, even giving Grizz enough time to duck into the back to restock on some of the most popular pastries and cake slices that flew off the shelves during the rushes. 

It was on the tail end of the lunch rush, only an hour or so till he finished for the day, when he heard Ryan asking for an order three times in a row. Usually, Grizz wouldn’t have given it a second thought, sometimes the café got so rowdy he could barely he could barely hear his own thoughts, but today it was at a moderate din and the newbie shouldn’t be having this much trouble. 

It was on the stuttering start of the third repetition that he decided to go help the poor kid, putting the tray of cakes back in the fridge and giving his hands a quick wash before heading through the open doorway to the café proper, only to see Sazz switch stations with Ryan to take the order instead. Figuring the situation was handled, he stepped back into the kitchen to finish the job he had started.

By the time he was out again the queue had completely died down, and Ryan was back at his original station.

“What was that all about?” he asked Sazz as he walked by, nodding towards where Ryan was walking out from behind the counter to collect some mugs that had been left on tables. 

“Some deaf guy,” Sazz said with a shrug, “Ryan had a hard time hearing him is all.”

“Ah, alright…” Grizz said, starting to fill the snack cabinet, making sure everything looked nice and tidy for the customers. 

“You know, we should take an ASL class.”    
  
“What?” Grizz turned to her with an incredulous look.   
  
“Yeah, it would be fun. It’d help out for situations like that, plus, it would add a little pizzazz to my CV as well.” 

“Like you even need more  _ pizzazz _ on your CV, miss ‘I’ve-spoken-three-languages-since-birth’” 

“Que hablo tres idiomas no quiere decir que no pueda aprender otro.” she said, shooting him a cocky smirk on her lips.

Grizz blinked slowly at her, once, twice, trying to piece together what she’d said from the little high school Spanish he could remember. Giving up, he shook his head and turned back to his work. 

“You know, not everyone grew up speaking Spanish, right Sazz? You can’t just jump that on someone like the know it all you are.”   
  
“I said,” Sazz said, leaning back against the counter and watching Grizz do his handy work on the presentation of the cakes. “Just because I know three languages doesn’t mean I can’t learn another.”   
  
“Maybe it doesn’t,” he said, “but you’re already a danger with three. A fourth, and silent one at that, would be downright  _ deadly _ to have in your arsenal.” 

Sazz laughed, letting out a snort before hastily covering her mouth like she always did when she was caught unaware by something funny. 

“Maybe it would be,” she said once she’d gotten her laugh under control, “but I still think we should consider it. It can’t hurt to give it a go, right?”   
  
“Alright,” Grizz said with a sigh, putting the last pastry in its place and turning to Sazz. “If you find one that doesn’t clash with either of our schedules we can give it a go.” 

“Sweet!” She broke out into a grin, and just as the door to the café opened she turned on her heel and stalked off. “I’m taking my last five minutes, by the way.”

“Sazz!” Grizz tried to call out with her, a small laugh in his voice at her response, but she’d already vanished through the back door. 

Back to work it was then. 

———

Grizz honestly expected Sazz to be spamming him with ASL classes by the time he got to his one and only class that evening, but since saying goodbye at the café he hadn’t heard a word from her. It was a little suspicious, and he had no doubt whatsoever that she was planning something. 

The next day brought the same routine, an early alarm, a 6:30 AM opening shift, but this time he was opening alone. One of the other new hires (Grizz had yet to learn their name) would be joining him at 8, but until then he was running the shop alone.

It was a quiet morning, giving him plenty of time to stand about doing nothing. He texted Sazz a few times, and double checked his email in case any of his professors had decided to spring yet more last minute essay changes on him, but everything was silent. 

The newbie joined him just five minutes late for her shift, tongue going a mile a minute as she tried to explain why she was late, and going so fast that he didn’t even have a second in between to ask her for her name. Later, he told himself, turning back to the espresso machine and waiting for the first order, as, as if on cue, it seemed the morning rush had decided to start the moment she threw on the apron.

———

Sazz joined them just as the crowd was starting to die down once again, giving Grizz a small wave and then immediately vanishing through the doorway into the backroom. Grizz stared quizzically at where she had left until he heard her voice call out ‘a-ha!’ and she came hurrying back into the café. 

“Sorry,” she said almost sheepishly, tucking her phone into her pocket as she joined him. “I thought I’d lost my phone last night - I didn’t even think to check back here until I was on my way to work.”   
  
“That explains why you weren’t yelling at me over text for disturbing your beauty sleep this morning,” Grizz said with a laugh, starting to clear away the dirty mugs that the new starter (Linn, he had learned) was bringing back from the empty tables. 

“I can’t believe you know I’ll yell at you and  _ still _ continue to text me on my mornings off.” 

“What can I say?” he said with a shrug, shooting her a smile. “Sometimes I really like the adrenaline rush of challenging the unknown.” 

“I’m going to ignore that comment, purely because I have some exciting news and I don’t want you backing out from me cursing you out.” 

“You found an ASL class,” he said, more of a statement than a question. 

“Exactly!” Sazz beamed. “I ran into the deaf guy who was in here yesterday, the cute one I told you about.”   
  
“You didn’t mention he was cute,” he said with a knowing look, “but continue”. 

“Well, he was. Anyway, he’s coming back in here today to give me the details he didn’t have last night. We’ve got an ASL class, Grizzy!” 

Sazz was practically jumping up and down with excitement, and Grizz couldn’t help but laugh at the glee in her eyes. 

“Alright, alright,” he said, still chuckling. “I’m happy you’re so excited, but you’re gonna scare off the customers with all of your morning energy. Now why don’t you take these dirty mugs,” he slid the plastic tray he’d stacked with the dishes over the counter towards her, “and spread your excitement throughout the place?”

“Urgh,” she groaned, her features immediately falling into a disgruntled look. Lifting the tray with what looked like a lot less effort than was really needed, she turned and started making her way to the back room again. Calling out to him once more before leaving, “Why do you always have to be such a buzzkill, Grizz?” 

“Because as much as I love you, I love tips more!” he called back with a grin. A few customers in the shop glanced at him, a couple with disgruntled looks on their faces, but Grizz honestly couldn’t care less, he was having the time of his life. 

He started busying himself with tidying up the front counter again, wiping crumbs and drips from the treated wood as he went, and was considering going to grab the broom to clear the floor as well when the door opened once more. 

He looked up with a smile, ready to greet the customer, but froze when he saw a familiar head of red hair, blue eyes gleaming. 

“Sam?” he asked, shaking himself from his stupor a moment later. Grizz hadn’t ever thought he’d see the other again, let alone here in the café where he worked, hundreds of miles from home. “What are you-- I mean…” he cleared his throat, trying to get himself together. “What can I help you with?” 

Sam smiled in response, walking up to the counter and leaning in a bit so he could speak. “I wanted to apologise, for yesterday,” he said, signing along as he spoke. Grizz didn’t recognise a lot of signs, only really ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or that one time he’d seen a YouTube video describing how to sign the word ‘bullshit’, but it was clear Sam was used to speaking like that. “I don’t speak very well.”

“Oh, no!” Grizz realised a second later what it was Sam was referring to. The incident with Ryan having to ask for the order repeatedly. It all started to make sense now. “You speak— you speak fine. It’s the crowd in here, it can get really loud, you know?”

Sam seemed to relax at that a little bit, his smile growing softer ever so slightly. He nodded once, and muttered what Grizz thought sounded like ‘thank you’, but he wasn’t sure. 

“So.. uh. Is there anything I can get you?” he asked, pointing up to the sign above the counter where the drinks were listed. 

Sam shook he head once, then raised his eyebrows. “Actually, is Sazz here?” 

“Sazz? Yeah, sure she’s—” As if on cue, as Grizz turned to point to the door that lead to the backroom, Sazz came walking out and immediately broke into another one of her grins when she saw Sam at the counter.

“Sam!” she all but squealed, hurrying over to stand next to Grizz. “I see you’ve met your second student already, this is Grizz. He looks scary, but he’s a softie, I swear.”

Grizz could feel the heat in his cheeks start to rise at Sazz’s comments, and he ducked his head slightly, wishing he hadn’t put his hair up in a bun this morning so he could hide behind his bangs for once. 

“We know each other already,” he heard Sam say, lifting his head to meet the other boy’s eyes. 

“Yeah,” Grizz added softly, nodding once and then turning his head ever so slightly to look at Sazz. He remembered one thing from school, and that was that Sam could read lips, so as long as he could see what you were saying, he would be a part of the conversation. “We grew up in the same town. Went to the same high school and everything.”

“Oh my god!” Sazz seemed almost giddier now than she had done earlier, but she was containing the excitement this time around, something that Grizz was immensely thankful for. “Well then, you’ll be pleased to hear that Sam’s volunteered to teach us ASL!”

“Wait, I thought you said you’d found an actual class for us?” Grizz asked, squinting slightly at Sazz. 

“I have, it just doesn’t start till next month. And ‘til then, Sam offered to teach us some basics so we don’t walk in like complete beginners.”   
  
“Oh, cool...” 

Grizz felt something shift in his chest at the thought of spending time with Sam. Whether it was because West Ham felt so far away, or because of something else completely he didn’t know for sure, but what he did know was that Sazz had gotten him into this and he could blame her for anything that was to come. 


End file.
